Aston Martin DB9 Plug-in Hybrid DB9 Built by Bosch

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Bosch Engineering and Aston Martin have teamed up to build a plug-in hybrid variant of the British automaker’s DB9 sports car.

Under the hood, the DB9’s 6.0-liter V12 is paired up with electric motors that boost total power output from 510 hp to over 740 hp. A pair of motors power the front wheels, essentially making it the first four-wheel drive Aston Martin in existence. The hybrid system adds about 650 pounds to the sports car.

The project began in April 2012 and Bosch had 74 engineers on it before Aston Martin delivered the donor DB9 in November 2012. The project was wrapped up at the end of last month and will now begin performance testing. Preliminary figures include an all-electric range of over 16 miles and its 0-62 mph sprint has been cut by at least 20 percent.

Recent exotics such as the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari have turned to pairing electric motors with traditional powerplants to boost performance. The electric motors in the DB9 also allow torque vectoring to improve handling. It also benefits from Bosch’s latest ESP system to provide more driving setups: safe, sport, drift, and custom.

In addition, Bosch developed TFT dials and an in-car touchscreen for the hybridized DB9. Unfortunately, the hybrid system won’t be heading to production any time soon, if at all according to Bosch. But clearly it gives Aston Martin some ideas on how a hybrid doesn’t always have to mean boring.

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